''Abatar'' ("The Incarnation") also known as ''Avatar'' is a 1941 Indian
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
mythological social drama film directed by
Premankur Atorthy
Premankur Atorthy (1890–1964) was an Indian novelist, journalist, and film director. He was involved in Hindi and Bengali cinema.Himangshu Dutta, who is referred to as Surasagar Himangshu Dutta. He made use of
Rabindra Sangeet
''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...
in his compositions and helped familiarize
S. D. Burman
Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...
to its use in composing semi-classical songs. The cast included
Durgadas Bannerjee
Durgadas Bannerjee (1893–1943) was an Indian Bengali film actor who appeared in many roles from 1922 to 1943.
Early life
Bannerjee was born on 3 December 1893 to a zamindar family at Kalikapur, Kolkata. Garia Rajbari was his ancestral hom ...
,
Ahindra Choudhury
Ahindra Choudhury (1896-1974) was an Indian actor, director, theatre personality and the co-founder of ''Photo Play Syndicate'', a Kolkata-based art organization for bioscope shows. A winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1958, Choudhu ...
, Jyotsna Gupta, Tulsi Lahiri, Utpal Sen and Panna Devi. The film is a mythological rendering along with satire of modern society and rapid extension of generation through industrialization, economy and modern politics during second world war. The story of the film tells about King Indranath's misfortunes and the descent to earth of gods incarnated as humans.
Plot
Indranath's son is ill, Guru Omkarananda suggests he pray to the goddess Kamala. His son improves but bad luck follows Indranath; his son and daughter die. Unable to stand the grief the Queen/Kalyani loses her mental equilibrium. Goddess
Kamala
Kamala refers to:
People
* Kamala (name), given name and surname, includes list of people and characters with the name
** Kamala Harris, the 49th and current Vice President of the United States
* Kamala (wrestler) (1950–2020), American profess ...
manifests as Rupasi, the daughter of Omkarananda. Virodhananda and his son Tribhanga are the incarnation of Narad and Narayan on earth. The kingdom goes through difficult times. Omkarananda is arrested and Rupasi goes to meet Bastabesh/Indranath who is attracted to her. Rupasi takes refuge in Birodhananda's house to avoid Bastabesh's advances. Birodhananda is interested in getting his son Tribhanga married to Rupasi. Bastabesh goes after Rupasi/Kamala who blinds him. Finally the gods perform their miracle and a repentant Bastabesh is restored his sight and kingdom.
Cast
*
Durgadas Bannerjee
Durgadas Bannerjee (1893–1943) was an Indian Bengali film actor who appeared in many roles from 1922 to 1943.
Early life
Bannerjee was born on 3 December 1893 to a zamindar family at Kalikapur, Kolkata. Garia Rajbari was his ancestral hom ...
as Narayan/Tribhanga
*
Ahindra Choudhury
Ahindra Choudhury (1896-1974) was an Indian actor, director, theatre personality and the co-founder of ''Photo Play Syndicate'', a Kolkata-based art organization for bioscope shows. A winner of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1958, Choudhu ...
as Indranath/Bastavesh
*Jyotsna Gupta as Kamala/Rupasi
*
Tulsi Lahiri
Tulsi Lahiri (7 April 1897 – 22 June 1959) was a Bengali actor, director and play writer.
Early life
Lahiri was born in 1897 in a zamindar family of Naldanga village, Rangpur of British India. He passed B.A and B.L and started his lawyer caree ...
as Narad/Birodhananda
*Bhumen Roy as Bhishwakarma/Jantraraj
*Utpal Sen as Omkarananda
*Renuka Roy as Maya
*Panna Devi as Kalyani/Rani
*Kamla Jharia as singer
*Santosh Singha
*Nitish Mukhopadhyay
*Satya Mukhopadhyay as laatai
*Kartik Roy
Music
The music of 'Abatar' composed by 'Rabindra Sangeet' music director Himangshu Dutta, use 'Rabindra Sangeet' Elements to compose the film songs.